A CHESTER school's new building has yet to be completed, but pupils there have already made their mark on it.

Children at Upton Heath Church of England Primary School were invited to sign their names on the steel frame of the new building, due to open in November, as the building project reached its halfway point.

The pupils, joined by staff at the steel signing ceremony, also wrote messages for future generations of schoolchildren on parchment paper which will be placed into the cavity walls of the new school.

John Buchanan, project manager for the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP2) at the Department for Education, was also in attendance.

After donning hard hats and sturdy footwear, the children were able to go on site and see some of the features of their new school building first hand.

The new two storey 1,812 sq ft school will include a balcony area that will look down on to the library space, two halls, a new field to the front of the building for the children to play on, and swift boxes for summer visiting swift birds to support local conservation.

All classrooms in the new school building have been designed to face the playing field and extensive forest area which is used for forest school sessions for all year groups during the school year.

The development work is part of the second wave of the Department for Education’s Priority School Building Programme, known as PSBP2.

PSBP2 sees Upton Heath redeveloped in a batch alongside Maghull High School and Hartford C of E High School by the Department for Education, with Wates Construction as the main contractor.

As well as signing their names on the steel, the children were able to learn more about the construction process during a Q&A session with Wates Construction’s community manager Angie Eardley and site manager Lee Reynolds.

Lee explained some of the key skills that are needed to work in the construction industry such as maths, design, technology, art and engineering. The children also had the opportunity to hear about the various career options available within the industry from Angie Eardley as they prepared their messages to be placed into the new building.

Lee said: “It was a good day for the children to visit their new school as we had the crane on site to put on the roof. We’re at what we call the envelope stage of the build. Our focus at the moment is getting the building watertight and undertaking the groundworks.”

Paul Dodsworth, managing director of Wates Construction North, added: “Involving pupils in the construction of their new school is a great way to help them understand what goes on behind the scenes at a construction site, and of course helps build excitement for their new place of learning.

"The team on site at Upton Heath is progressing very well with the build and inviting the pupils to site is just one of many ways the team is engaging the school and the wider community in this fantastic project.”

Upton Heath Church of England Primary School’s new building is the culmination of a number of years’ of planning with the school initially part of the local authority’s Capital Vision Scheme back in 2010.

James Oakes, facilities manager for The Samara Trust, a multi-Academy Trust comprised of Upton Heath C of E Primary School, Clutton C of E Primary School and Little Sutton C of E Primary School, said: “The Priority School Building Programme has a requirement for the building to meet stringent quality measures, such as light levels, air quality and insulation to keep running costs to a minimum.

"We have been given the opportunity to adapt this modern school building blueprint to suit the needs of our children and families here at Upton Heath.

"The Department for Education have taken ownership of the project and manage the build on our behalf with Wates Construction as their main contractor.

"I’ve been very impressed with how the build has progressed. Both teams have been excellent. We are very grateful for their hard work and the support and guidance they’ve provided to us throughout the process.”

The project will see the 1950s sections of the school building replaced by the new school building, with only the newer part of the current school building remaining and a link joining the two.

It is envisaged that pupils will move into the new school building after the October half term.

Interim principal Wendy O’Leary-Davies said: “At Upton Heath we are a large school that offers the best of both worlds. A friendly, family oriented and inclusive church school environment where children feel happy and secure combined with all of the opportunities that a large school offers.

"The new school building will be the ideal setting for our children and staff as we continue to strive to provide exciting learning experiences for our children.”